Manager Alex Neil has a real injury crisis in terms of attacking options for the Boxing Day clash with Hull City at Deepdale.
Already without Callum Robinson, Brandon Barker and Sean Maguire (all hamstring), Josh Harrop and Billy Bodin (both ACL), Louis Moult left the field early in the second half at Hillsborough with a hamstring injury and is likely to miss the clash with the Tigers.
This leaves only Lukas Nmecha as an out and out striker available for selection, with Tom Barkhuizen able to provide support in the forward areas.
Skipper Tom Clarke missed the trip to Sheffield Wednesday with continuing complications with his nose, broken heading the back of Jordan Hugill in November, and he will need to be assessed before the squad can be named.
Fellow defender Josh Earl continues to be absent with the thigh injury he picked up at Birmingham City at the beginning of the month and whilst he, Barker and Maguire are getting closer to a return to action, the festive fixtures will come too early.
The manager will also be without Ben Pearson who will serve the first game of his four match suspension following his red card against Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend.
The likes of youth team prospects Jack Baxter, Ethan Walker and Adam O’Reilly are all likely to come into consideration for involvement in the absence of senior players.
For City boss Nigel Adkins, he will assess the injury to central defender Ondrej Mazuch, who was taken off at half-time during their 3-2 win over Swansea City at the KCOM Stadium on Saturday.
The defender was making his second start of the season after missing most of the campaign so far with a knee injury picked up during pre-season, but was replaced at the interval by Jordy de Wijs, who slotted in alongside Tommy Elphick at centre back. Mazuch suffered a minor calf complaint and will be checked over.
Reece Burke was in the squad on Saturday, but not the final 19 and could come in, if his team-mate is out, but it seems unlikely Eric Lichaj will be included in the squad.
The USA international will return to training on Monday after picking up a calf injury at QPR, but it seems it is more likely that he could be involved for the trip to Leeds United next Saturday.
Meanwhile, Tigers skipper Markus Henriksen missed the win over Swansea through illness, but Adkins feels confident that he will be available to face the Lilywhites, he said: “We’ve lost the captain today, Markus Henriksen, with a bad illness, he’s going to be fine he’s just sick.”